


On the Moon

by siruru



Series: Love Poem [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Black Mage Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Canon Compliant, F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Mutual Pining, Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Red Mage Questline (Final Fantasy XIV), Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, background story established
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 13,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22700212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siruru/pseuds/siruru
Summary: Basically the same old world of FFXIV, except there is a theoretical 5% chance that you might meet your soulmate -- with a shortness of breath and splitting headaches, Y’uria and Thancred fear that might be each other’s
Relationships: Implied Lahabrea/Warrior of Light, Scions of the Seventh Dawn & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Thancred Waters/Original Female Character(s), Warrior of Light/Thancred Waters, thancred waters & scions of the seventh dawn
Series: Love Poem [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760899
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

There are rumors and old stories that have been spun for ages. Fairyt ales that parents tell their children at night so they can dream and wish. This is one such thing -- one such blessing that Hydaelyn has given to all her children, if they are lucky enough to find it. 

_ A young miqo'te child, not barely even ten, watches as her older sister gives her vows. An eternal promise now that they have found each other. Her mother’s eyes are gleaming and her father is smiling. She stands there unsure of what to do, but knows that her older sister will always have everything she never does. _

_ She thinks about how she might never receive it. _

* * *

_ In Ul’dah, there is a young man, watching the crowd at the dark pub while keeping to the shadows, as the festivities go on around him. He meets the eyes of a pretty hyur -- his target for the night as he lets go of his breath with practiced ease.  _

_ He whispers the familiar story like a silver-tongued devil, though never once taking it to heart.  _

**Some people are extremely lucky to receive Hydaelyn’s blessing -- to find the other half of your soul in this dismal world.**

* * *

_ Stories have been told that Hydaelyn’s blessing takes many forms, from shortness of breath to headaches and nausea. They are all the same in one way -- a mild discomfort from the person that holds the other half of the same soul.  _

It starts underneath the Sultantree with a pink-haired miqo'te giving him a questioning look after the light surrounding them has subsided. She doesn’t talk much, as she simply takes in the lines of gratitude and his explanation. Thancred has to stop himself every once and awhile to take in another breath of air, but nobody seems to notice. 

She looks at him only once the entire time before going back to making sure that the “Lady Lilira” is all right. 

“All right then,” is all she manages to say before they all go their separate ways. She picks up her staff. 

The blond lalafell smiles and thanks her one last time, as the adventurer simply nods with a quirk of her lips. She turns to look at him and nods without another word before going back into the humid Thanalan desert. 

For a brief moment, Thancred feels a punch to his gut at the sight -- like he should stop her, but he does nothing of the sort and end up going back to the Waking Sands. 

He tries not to think about it much afterwards. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally finished ARR and trying to catch up in my writing of this. thanks for reading!

It takes some time for Y’uria to get used to Ul’dah. It’s the complete opposite of everything she has grown up in, but at the same time it keeps her sharp and alert. The desert and its people have taught her more in the past few weeks about protecting herself than anything she had learned from the village she lived in. 

Everything was so different, but she was learning and that’s what mattered above all else. She learned from the missions she took, the people she helped, and from the Coco siblings and Momodi as well. However, the thing that brings the most excitement is when she feels it --  _ pop! _

It’s a sensation she has only read about books and when her elder sister’s husband has talked about it. It makes her want to jump and scream whenever she feels that familiar  _ pop,  _ as she ends up stopping whatever she is doing to look around for a brief second -- wondering where they could be. 

Then, one day on the Steps of Nald, it happens once more -- that all too familiar  _ pop.  _

Blue eyes look around in worry over how she is dressed, but flutter with her heart in excitement.  _ It’s then when it happens again---  _

White hair and brown eyes flash before her as she stands still for a moment. This person she had only met one other time stops as well, before going back to speaking to a group of women of all different varieties. Y’uria lets out a shuddering breath. 

The nausea sets in as she ends up running back to the Arrzaneth Ossuary. No one runs after her as she ends up passing out in front of Cocobuki.  That day, Ul’dah teaches her disappointment and she trains herself to ignore the familiar but heartbreaking  _ pop.  _ She leans on old family recipes and looking at the sky above to ignore it with all her heart.

* * *

Y’uria wishes that she could pearl-link back home, but that isn’t something that runaway children do after everything that they have said and done. She burned that bridge with a flick of her wrist and escaped into the middle of the night. 

But, sometimes she wishes she could call Hanram and ask her big sister if having a soulmate is supposed to be this sickening -- if it should hurt and damage her body this much.

She ends up falling asleep due to her medicine and dreaming of white instead. 

* * *

“Watch her,” is what Minfila tells him one day, “She might be a good addition to the Scions.” 

He simply nods with a well-trained smile before leaving. 

Thancred won’t admit that he had been watching her this entire time, though for completely different reasons. 

* * *

It doesn’t take him to realize what type of person this adventurer exactly is. Thancred has dealt with all types of people in life, both inside and outside the bedroom, but this miqo'te traveler has a single-mindedness that he has never seen before. 

From the  Thaumaturge’s Guild and back to the Thanalan desert and back to the Quicksand -- all she does is work and train in her craft. She talks to Momodi and others to pick up missions and people in help without breaking a sweat or complaining that any mission is too much. 

Most people are an open book in this way -- surely the adventurer must be as well. 

It takes him awhile to catch it, but he slowly starts to learn some of her subtle quirks. It’s a quick flick of her tail when she is talking to one of the vendors in Sapphire Avenue. Her tail sometimes tends to puff up when she is annoyed over something for a brief moment. It also tends to move about in excitement when she is battle, bobbing around to the lightning and ice around her. 

Sometimes, she tends to tense up from time to time before walking in the other direction. Her tail’s end moves back in acknowledgement and he can’t help but wonder if she feels something because he is near her vicinity. However, she never says anything before continuing her walk back to the Quicksand. 

Thancred has a million questions running through his head, but now it is best to silent and keep watching from afar.

“Miss Yuria,” Momodi exclaims as she comes back in for the night, as said miqo'te’s ears perk. Her tail switches back and forth as she looks down at the small woman. A look in her eyes already telling him that there will be more work for the young adventurer. 

Thancred decides to call it a night as the two of them head back into the Quicksand.

_ But Yuria...Yuria is indeed a nice name _ , he can’t help but think, while walking back to the Waking Sands. 

Eventually, she gets made into the envoy for Ul’dah and Thancred keeps watching her -- wondering what else he’ll learn next.


	3. Chapter 3

She isn’t sure why everything is a blur after the strange happenings in the  Thaumaturge’s Guild . Between going to Gridania and Limsa Lominsa then back to Ul’dah to deal with the situation surrounding the refugees, Y’uria is lucky enough to catch her breath after her trip.

Then it happens again, that bright light and she ends up fighting a group of five thugs on the streets of Ul’dah. The refugee woman thanked her before running away and that’s when everything stops running from her, thanks to an all-too familiar _ pop.  _

She doesn’t hear half of what he is saying because her head is pounding at the mere sight of him, of realizing who the person she had been looking for is and feeling her heart break at the same time over it. He smiles and keeps talking, but the words never pop out. 

> _ I’m your soulmate. Hydaelyn has blessed us.  _

It doesn’t sound like Yhanram’s husband the moment they had met. It is something else completely and she does her best to reign in all the emptiness and disappointment that washes over her. 

“--Tell her the Scions of the Seventh Dawn has found their woman, and she will tell you where to find us,” he smiles in her direction, but it’s the one that he gives everyone else in the world. It is the one that Y’uria had seen him throw in every direction on the day that she had passed out. 

She doesn’t say anything, as her headache begins to grow in intensity. She decides to think about his proposition another time, after she has returned to her room in the Quicksand and passed out from her exhaustion and grief. 

She can’t help but wonder why Hydaelyn had been so cruel to her of all people.

* * *

Thancred is halfway between doubtful and excited at the prospect of the newest addition to the Scions. He had seen her fight and knew that her  Thaumaturge skills had only gotten better with time. The young woman had a single mindedness to her that drove her to find the truth and learn more with a side of helpfulness, though she never really talked.

However, it was that same personality trait that kept her closed off to the Thaumaturge’s Guild and Quicksand, though Thancred could tell that she was perfectly complacent with that.  _ Would she be willing to risk that for the greater good of things?  _

She hadn’t seemed very convinced when he had last seen her. 

This question rattled in Thancred’s head for almost a day until he heard it -- a soft and almost unfamiliar voice giving the password. Instead of coming up, he went back down the stairs and waited -- waited for Minfilla to call the rest of the Scions )(and him) over. That’s when it happens all over again--

Blue eyes glance at him as the rest of the Scions make their way into Minfilla’s office, but the moment and all other noise becomes static as the air leaves Thancred’s lungs at the sight of her. 

Her tail was flicking around and about, as she took in the office. She had changed her outfit into a green acolyte robe. Thancred noticed most of her hair was now hidden due to the white hat on her head, he had to admit that her ears peeking out and moving about was an _ endearing sight  _ to see. 

Suddenly, it was very hard to breathe again. 

“--and this is Thancred.”

“He is our man here in Ul’dah, the jewel of the desert.” 

Thancred swears that he hears Yda and Papalymo talking, but he has to catch his breath once she turns to stare at him. They have met before and he had been following since she had become envoy, but meeting her blue eyes was like being underneath the Sultantree all over again.    
  
The words “ _ welcome to the team”  _ come out before anything else, as he finds himself introducing Y’shtola with a practiced smile. However, besides a nod, she doesn’t say anything else as she goes back to listening to Y’shtola and and then Minfilla. 

Yuria ends up becoming the newest member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and his current partner in Ul’dah. He heaves a heavy sigh, unsure of what to do or even think about all this. 

* * *

_ Thancred. Thancred.  _

It’s a name that should easily roll off her tongue, but causes Y’uria nausea the moment she tries to say it outloud. 

She tries not to think about that once she leaves the Waking Sands. She tries to deny it by a trip to the apothecary, but her head keeps throbbing the rest of the evening. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ref: y'hanram -- older sister, y'orshaka - younger sister

Thancred isn’t sure how she does it all on her own. She seems to talk to people and they are all naturally charmed by her. A nod and a steely look, like she cares about them, makes them spill all their secrets to her. It’s silly how he makes her job so obsolete, though he still pulls her into a bit of his own tactics as he has her dress up in tattered clothes and walk around asking questions. 

“You have quite the tack for being a nuisance,  _ Yuria. _ The camp is buzzing with the talk of newly arrived vagrants.” 

Thancred tries his hardest not to lose his nerve, while speaking her name. He is so used to calling her so many other things at this point that calling her name is as strange as it is liberating. However, she keeps staring impassively as him, a frown on her face for a second before bringing it back in. 

She nods and just moves forward with the second part of his plan. There isn’t any fluttering of her eyelashes or a sweet giggle that escapes her lips at the sound of his voice.

Thancred feels nothing but dread and utter coldness that _ Yuria _ might not fall as easily as others. 

And to that he isn’t sure what to do. 

* * *

It makes her pause when she hears her say her name. It isn’t soft and sweet, but in a teasing quip as they stand in the middle of the desert. They are waiting for danger to arrive, as they tried to figure out what is happening to all the refugees. However, there is something that bothers her about him as they spend more time together. 

“You look absolutely smashing _ Yuria _ \--positively dressed for deception. All that’s left then is to wait for our quarry to appear.” 

She frowns for a second at how easy her name falls from his lips, like he has done this dozens of times before with other faceless women. Y’uria can tell what type of man Thancred is, she had seen before in her village where Tia(s) her age to come around her sisters (mostly just at Y'orshka one point) and tried their hardest to take them as their first wives. It never worked in the end, but affections could so easily be changed with a flick of smile and sweet words. 

The secondary  _ pop _ that comes with being around him hurts more than usual, as she stands there and watches him make flirty innuendos before flicking his wrist to show off his knife.

Any other girl might have swoon, but all Y’uria does is grab her small staff as she ends up doing most of the work of this mission  _ again _ . 

* * *

It’s a flicker in the center of his stomach that causes him to stop for a moment. His breathing leaves his lungs as the world shakes around him, the cold sweat of dread running down his spine. After a second, it is gone and replaced with something warmer -- angrier before it leaves him completely. 

Thancred wants to throw up right then and there, but one of the Flame lieutenants calls his name -- only for the world to stop once more. 

“--Some of our men and the Scion have been kidnapped by the Amalj’aa.” 

_ Yuria,  _ Thancred thinks desperately in knowing what this could mean, of what the Amalj’aa were going to do to them. 

Thancred feels his heart drop the potential helplessness that comes with him not being able to help  **his own goddamn soulmate.**

* * *

Y’uria isn’t sure how she can feel  _ hot and cold _ at the same time, but she had been doing so since entering the cliff with the rest of the kidnapped victims. They had all been doused with blue fire, their minds captured by the Primal the beastman worshiped. Everyone lost their minds in front of the fire demon, but she stayed sane -- and they were quick to notice. 

Out of everything she had done since running away, Y’uria had never thought she would be fighting a living god/demon in the middle of the desert, but here she was -- charred and bloody as she let loose one more Blizzard before the beast fell. 

The adrenaline of battle slowly begins to fall, as she starts to feel the pain of everything else, especially the burn she had received from facing the demon head on at first. Magic could only do so much and know she was facing the problems of her shortcomings. However, to Y’uria that only meant one thing in the end. 

_ Not strong enough. Have to get stronger.  _

It echoes on her head until the secondary  _ pop  _ comes in, resting like a sweet berry on top of her cake of ailments. However, she moves just a little more when she sees a red crystal laying in the middle of the ground. She moves with shaky legs to pick up, as the light engulfs her all over again.

“Pray forgive my lateness!” she hears a familiar voice make its way to her side, as the coldness of someone else’s worry digs itself into the center of her very being. She swears that she can hear the words, but they have no meaning.

There’s that stupid flicker again and she;s sure that Thancred has moved somewhere else, as the panic flutters in her chest. He keeps talking, but all she wants to do is leave the blasted desert -- a first since arriving in Ul’dah. 

_ I owe you an apology, Yuria. Had I known...I would have never left you to face it alone.  _

It almost sounds like what she wants to hear, but Thancred states that they should leave. But, Y’uria’s legs buckle and won’t let her move in that instant. It’s once he starts moving again more that the panic flutters in her chest like mad and she finally lets it out. 

_ “Thancred, _ ” she lets out slowly and in so much pain before passing out. 

She ends up feeling all warm again, but Y’uria doesn’t hit the desert ground below her as something catches her.

A soft curse word is the last thing she hears.


	5. Chapter 5

Y’uria ends up spending the night and most of the early morning asleep due to the pain and general exhaustion that comes from fighting a Primal, but Momodi is there to assure a certain someone that a Hi-Potion and bandages should quickly fix her up. 

That is until the fever, an aftereffect of the infected and burned skin, kicks in. Momodi calls in a healer from the Adventurer’s Guild to ease her through the week. Even the eldest of the Coco siblings comes to visit her while she is awake to bring her easy food to eat. 

It takes her time, but by the end she comes back stronger than before though with scarring in the middle of her back. But, Y’uria learns a valuable lesson from all this. 

**She needs to get stronger,** if this is the type of stuff she is going to deal with as a Scion. She has to get stronger and better control of her magic, while being able to protect herself at the same time, though healing had never been her forte. But, she does what she can do with more potions than she would like in her sack and thinking that she should take a few more jobs here and there to better learn certain trades. 

She extends her hours, almost a week and a half has passed by, in the  Thaumaturge’s Guild and in New Gridania before she even dares to face Minfilia again.

She doesn’t dare think as to why she hasn’t seen Thancred this entire time either, because the lack of a  _ pop  _ is better than going into her own dark thoughts. 

* * *

However, Yuria doesn’t feel the thing Thancred had when he had touched her hand to keep her from falling over. She was passed out, as her skin touched his and the air left his lungs completely. Bubbles seemed to  _ pop  _ to the surface to send goosebumps down his spine. Thancred let out a shudder before her body fell ever so willing into his arms. 

> _ Hydaelyn’s blessing-- _

“Now is not the time to be thinking about that,” Thancred murmurs to himself in good humor, to avoid the feeling bubbling akin to hope trapped in his chest. Thancred instead chooses to pull her body around his as he begins to carry her piggyback style back to Camp Drybone from there it would be easier to travel back to Ul’dah by aetheryte. 

The soldiers of the Immortal Flames give him strange looks, as he drags her back to camp. However, between getting lost in his own thoughts and the overwhelming guilt, he doesn’t seem to notice. Thancred can’t help but reprimand himself the whole way back with a shortness of breath he knows he isn’t going to get used to anything soon. 

“I’m so sorry, Yuria,” he murmurs to her softly, as the slow and steady breathes she is taking remind him that she is still alive -- that there is still a chance to make it better. 

Thancred comes to a slow realization that he could actually have  _ a soulmate _ in this stubborn but selfless miqo'te. Her long hair tickles his cheek with her head falling deeper in his neck/throat area. 

He lets out an uneasy groan, as he stares at the desert sky. 

Oh the Twelve were testing him all right. 

* * *

> _ “Have you gone to check on her at all, Thancred?”  _

Minfilla frowns at the lack of response from the man, though she knows by now that he was hiding something -- whether it was remorse or something else, she wasn’t sure but he hadn’t seen the newest Scion since they had returned from her defeating Ifrit. 

However, what the Ascendant didn’t know was that Thancred kept watching the entire time a certain woman was recovering from her injuries, though just from afar, as he dealt with a new set of problems. And whether the miqo'te would forgive him for not arriving on time to help her,  _ when he had promised _ , was just the surface level of it all.

* * *

It’s nearly two weeks after Ifrit, between reading and missions, that Y’uria finally walks into the Scions’ Headquarters once more. She has styled herself a bit more differently than before. Now, she is wearing a red coat with white pants and heavy brown boots. A shield on her back is the notifiable addition to her new ensemble. She nods to Tataru before going down the stairs. 

She is stronger now, and more confident that she had been in quite some time. Everything is fine, though she might be a bit too anxious about running into a certain someone again. 

It didn’t take her long to figure that the person that had dragged her back to Ul’dah and while she enjoyed not having headaches, Y’uria was slowly becoming certain of one thing. However, as she gained the courage to think about talking to him about it --to ask him if he felt something too-- Thancred never showed up to see her, not to even ask how she was doing in the name of the Scions. 

Y’uria was used to the various forms of rejection that came with life, but she never thought that her  _ potential _ soulmate would reject her. Nevertheless, she took that anger and sadness and turned into motivation to keep moving forward -- where, she didn’t know yet. 

She just didn’t expect Thancred to be standing there and talking about the previous mission with Minfilla. The two hyur pause, as the blonde greets her warmly. 

The  _ pop _ is there once more as Thancred starts talking once more: “--I was just telling Minfilla of your heroic exploits.”

“Thancred has told me everything. You have done well to return to us after your injuries,” Minfilla continues as Y’uria gives her the utmost attention, if only to ignore the other presence.

However, all that becomes static as Thancred begins to talk about Primals and how they are made, and as much as Y’uria wants to pay attention to all this new information. She finds herself unable to, especially when trying to look directly at his face. 

Ignoring the man might be a lot harder than she thought it was going to be.

* * *

Thancred doesn’t blame Yuria when she won’t glance up to meet his eye. The slight movement of her tail to coil around herself tells him that she might be uncomfortable with the whole situation, or maybe just him as Minfilla turns around. 

He’s disappointed in himself too.

He’s breathing heavier than usual since she entered the room, but he knows that he has to get a certain point across. 

“Whether she intended to or not, Minfilla neglected something -- something I think it would be best you heard it from one of us,” he states as he notices her tail move back and forth faster than usual --  _ interest. _

He tells her of the men she had been kidnapped with and how they were killed due to the Primal’s influence. Thancred wants to drive the point home that these are dangerous creatures that they are dealing with and that people can be altered and killed as a result. 

Above all else, he wants to make sure that she is ready and willing to keep fighting regardless of the price. She tilts her head and almost looks at him. Her blue eyes end up staring in the middle, as she touches the back of her neck. 

“And so, we as Scions continue our fight, that no more innocents need to be sacrificed. I hope that you will continue to stand with us, Yuria.”

Breathing out her name is slowly becoming easier to him, but it doesn’t help when their eyes finally meet. And as much as Thancred could wish that she would leave, far away so she could be safe and maybe even never see him again, even if his inkling is true, there is a spark in her eyes that tells Thancred that she isn’t going to.

It’s that single mindedness of hers shining through once more and it scares the hell out of him. 

He leaves and stands in the middle of the Waking Sands with more determination than he has felt in quite some time, and he can’t help but think if it is all his own. 

> _ Gods forgive me...How many more lives?...Louisoix would have never allowed this to happen.  _

“I have to do better.  _ I have to get stronger.”  _

It was all he really could do.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slowly making my way towards the start of stormblood! also thought it might be nice to show the readers what the song this story is named after: [here](https://lyricstranslate.com/en/moon-ay%C4%B1n-%C3%BCst%C3%BCnde.html)
> 
> thank you for reading the story so far!

It isn’t until a little while after all that, when Y’uria is doing sole mission and tasks around Thanalan that she remembers that she really should talk to Thancred -- if only to calm down the nervous ache in her stomach that she knows isn’t hers. They were talking about something else, but like all conversations that she seems to have with the man, everything just blurs together with him just being next to here. 

But, for some reason the world stops for a moment as he takes a deep breath and gives her a sympathetic smile: “--Ah yes, I was in the process of apologizing. I do hope you can forgive me. I arrived too late to be of any use...to you or the abductees.” 

He’s remorseful, though for reasons Y’uria won’t understand for quite some time. For time during her recovery, she had been mad at Thancred, at the Scions, and herself for not being strong or fast enough. But, that is just the way the world was at times. 

There’s a weary smile on his face, though Y’uria can tell there is something hidden that he is trying to hide. Her eyes narrow at the thought, as the thought of needing to know more settles in her mind. 

Y’uria can’t find the ability to say anything at the moment, as the headache she is constantly bothered by slowly recedes but gives form to something else. She simply nods in acceptance of his apology. 

* * *

It doesn’t surprise Thancred when he hears the news that Yuria has decided to stay on with the Scions, that she had even traveled around in order to choose a Grand Company to be part of. 

Somehow, it doesn’t surprise him either that she ends up choosing the Immortal Flames. She is stuck to Ul’dah like a desert weed, as she becomes a familiar face in and outside of the Waking Sands. 

On the other hand, it doesn’t take Y’uria much to figure out that Thancred has been avoiding her since his little speech. 

If either of them feel sick as a result, well they don’t tell anyone else.

* * *

New Gridania is the next place that they send her to with Papalymo and Yda at her side to investigate whatever is going on in the outskirts of the city-state. She had gone one or twice, but she had always come back. It was like Ul’dah was becoming a second home to her, but this was an extended mission. She would be gone for longer than a day. 

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but maybe it was for better because Thancred had his own things to take care off and there was strength in numbers compared to just her and the promise that he was going to be there--

He feels a set of eyes on him after the meeting, as he looks up to meet her blue ones. And in a moment all the air leaves his lungs once more, as he realizes the Yuria is the type of woman that always looks people directly in the eye. 

It might be helpful for some things, but it unnerves him as she keeps standing there in pure silence. Her tail swings back and forth behind her in a leisurely sort of way, like she isn’t leaving anytime soon. He isn’t sure what to say, so he simply opens his mouth to break the silence. 

“I am sure that Yda and Papalymo would be of much better help in this sort of situation than--”

Her face makes an uncomfortable grimace, like she is swallowing something dark and maybe even poisonous. Her voice, soft and quick, stops Thancred in his weak explanation: “Take care of yourself.” 

Before he could say anything to answer her back, she had already turned and walked out of the office, probably already looking forward to being in the next city. Thancred can’t help but let out a weak laugh, half in self-deprecation and partial amusement, over how none of this seems to phase her. 

Later on, he realized what she had tried to tell him and how he really should have said it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check me out on [twitter](https://twitter.com/fabiolon)


	7. Chapter 7

Beyond its surface level appearance, Gridania is a mix of new and old that leaves Y’uria in an uncertain state. It is bigger and so much lovelier than her old village, but just beyond its boundaries a person is bound to get lost in the tangling forest or eaten by a large monster -- sometimes, but that might even happen multiple times in one day. 

Y’uria is comfortable enough to walk about the denser areas compared to when she was a child and hid behind her eldest sister. It certainly helped that she had her magic and a giant Chocobo following her around now. But, it was mostly empty--

In a similar way to Ul’dah, she had been partnered with Yda and Papalymo to investigate and just like back in the desert, she was doing most of the work. However, there was one key difference--

“The Sylphs tend to be peaceful---”

These two Scions had been partners longer and they seemed like two peas in a pod to her. Yes, they were sweet and welcomed her with open arms, ready to take her anywhere that she needed to go, but after a while they stayed in their location and watched as she took hold of the investigation. 

There is no teasing partner waiting for her return, no silly dressing up and asking questions in the name of deceit, no quick flicker of the knife when she least expects it. There is no  _ pop _ and headaches that make her pause for a second that causes her to look around, searching for white hair against the clear blue backdrop. 

There isn’t anything stopping her from doing her work and pushing forward with everything that is needed of her, and it helps for a while. 

“How foolish of me,” Y’uria remarks to herself. Her current desolation is only known to the dense forest surrounding her. 

Y’uria pats her Chocobo before moving forward once more -- denying that she is heartsick the entire time. 

* * *

The second time it happens -- the flare up of something brighter burning in the middle of his chest-- Thancred is reading through important documents in the middle of the night. Now, he was used to pushing his body to the limits and knowing how little sleep and food he could take in before passing out completely, but this wasn’t one of those symptoms. 

He pauses and rubs his palm over his chest. It reminds of that time that Yuria had been kidnapped before fighting Ifrit. However, while the warmth and anger is there, there is also something else. A thrum of something cold and fearful and Thancred isn’t sure what to do about that. 

He pauses and falls onto the chair beside him. His body unwilling to do anything else at the moment, as the exhaustion finally catches up with him. 

“Twelve,  _ please, _ ” is all that he can breathe, unsure of how much longer he will be able to go like this. 

He stays up the rest of the night, though now much more familiar with the old tales of Hydaelyn’s blessing than with the reports he was supposed to be reading. 

* * *

Yda and Papalymo end up arriving back at the Waking Sands a few days afterwards, as Thancred watches them enter Minfilla’s office. He can’t help but frown for a moment that a certain someone isn’t back yet, but if she was injured once more -- then, he would have felt it, that was something he was sure of now. 

The confirmation and dizzying realization that such a concept was real and that he was one of few people -- _ Thancred Waters, _ of all people-- that was experiencing such a thing. Well, it was still taking more than some adjusting to. 

All that and everything else was weighing so heavily on his mind, that he didn’t notice the soft steps of someone entering the outer part of the Solar. Of someone stopping right in front of his seat until a pair of dark boots come into view. 

The soft questioning of his name and how all air just leaves his lungs tells him who it is before he can even look up. 

“Ah, Yuria,” he breathes out, while blue eyes take in his entire being, “Pray do not concern yourself with my welfare. My current investigation has yielded some curious results, and at present I am pondering how best to proceed.” 

Thancred knows he has said something wrong again when she frowns, but instead of saying anything about what he had just said, Yuria simply pulls out a small bag. She places it in front of him and Thancred is quick to note that there is something sweet smelling within it. 

Her tail curls around her waist as she pushes the bag in front of his face. Curious brown eyes meet blue ones.

“The sweet bread from Gridania is good,” she explains as she pushes the bag into his hands, “You should try it.” 

“Yuria, I--”

“Have it,” she states like there is no room for an argument with her. Her pupils narrow a bit more, as the tail drums against her clothing in a small  _ tap, tap _ . She isn’t taking no for an answer, as she places her hands behind her back. 

He sighs, as blue eyes keep watch and make sure he doesn’t reject the food. 

“I--thank you for thinking of me,” is all he can really say. She nods her head in satisfaction before stepping away and making her way down the hall. 

Thancred gets up with the bag once Yuria goes into the Solar. The guards don’t say anything as he walks, though he wouldn’t have noticed. His mind was on other things, such as if his feelings and ailments were something that Yuria could feel as well. 

* * *

“Welcome back, Yuria. I am pleased that you and everyone have been getting along.” 

Minfilla states it's a fact, but Y’uria isn’t really sure of that. The thought causes her to frown before shaking her head because she can’t agree with that statement, especially when it feels like he won’t talk to her without a wall between. 

Yda and Papalymo were nice enough, but they weren’t the people that she wanted to talk the most to within the Scions. 

Minfilla smiles at the hasty denial, but unlike the miqo'te and even Thancred -- there were things that Minfilla could see that they couldn’t...at least, not yet. However, that was for another time, as Y’uria began reporting everything she had learned in New Gridania. 

* * *

It isn’t until much later, when Yda and Papalymo have settled down for a break in the room where all the Scions tend to meet that Thancred realizes why he couldn’t work through that one night. 

“You could tell though,” Yda adds in Papalymo finished up how they found Yuria in the Thousand Maws of Toto-rak, “You could tell that she was scared.”

“What exactly do you mean?” Thancred can’t help but ask.

“Well, Yuria is usually so calm and quiet,” Yda nods to herself, “But her eyes were so puffy by the end of the fight and her hands were shaking.  _ She told us after we left the cave that she was afraid of the arachnid, but there she was fighting it all by herself!” _

Thancred can’t help but put two and two together, as he sits there flabbergasted for a moment -- unsure how the miqo'te could have felled a Primal like Infrit, but cried the entire she was fighting an eight-legged beast. 


	8. Chapter 8

After returning from New Gridania, Y’uria finds herself in a strange dance with her potential soulmate. She is in Ul’dah more often now that she has to help the remnants of Little Alh Migo in order to learn more about the Ascian Lahabrea, but she only seems to see less of the man that should be in the Waking Sands. 

He had told her not to worry over his welfare, but how could she not? 

She didn’t feel it often, but there were waves here and there of exhaustion, of hunger that she knew weren’t hers. She ended up carrying back food for two (three if she counted the Gysahl Greens) in her Chocobo’s saddle when she was coming back into Horizon. 

Small sweet things were often what she brought or snacks that could be taken on the go since she realized that Thancred was always away every other time she visited the Waking Sands. There was a time she thought she would be able to ask him the questions that were humming in the back of her head, but alas he was never there. Though she knew that she was doing something that was helping him. 

She ended up giving the food to the guards alongside some extra stuff for them as well with the promise that they would give to him whenever they saw him. They did much to his confusion and secret glee. 

They stayed like this for some time, though fully aware of what the other one was now, but one was certainly too foolish to take the next step and the other was too stubborn to do it on their own. 

Everything seemed to tumble down hill once Y’uria entered the Haukke Mansion though.

* * *

Y’uria has never been the type to seek out revenge, though she did tend to hold grudges from time to time. It was childish, but it was the type of personality she had since she was a child -- quiet but stubborn as a weed. 

She wasn’t sure what this Lahabrea wanted, but making her fight a giant spider followed by sending her into a haunted mansion -- well, it made her hold his name closer than most when she came out of the Haukke Mansion.

“Test your prowess?” Minfilla echoes back what Lahabrea’s followers had told Y’uria back in the mansion. The miqo'te’s ears pull back, as her frown deepens more than usual. By now, Minfilla can say that the young woman isn’t scared, but annoyed at such a thing. 

“Something of the sort,” is all Y’uria says, as blue eyes watch her. 

She grits it out in annoyance to Minfilia once she comes back to the Waking Sands. The hyur gives her a concerned look before moving forward with what they should look into next. On the other side of the building, there is a flutter of annoyance in someone else’s chest. 

* * *

Over time, Thancred gets better at avoiding meeting a certain person, though the guards always make sure that he gets whatever else she has brought from her missions. It wasn’t that he disliked seeing her or anything--

“Is she?” he motions down the hall as one of the guards simply nods. 

After the first couple of times, but especially after a particular sylph joined the Scions. Without another word, Thancred enters the room where the rest of the Scions usually gathered. There are times when he is welcomed with open arms and he is able to drink with a few of them, but this isn’t one of those times. He stays close to the wall with nothing at hand and simply observes the room, takes in the landscape until his eyes land on something pink in the corner of the room. 

“This one--”

There are blue eyes watching the sylph’s motions in a mix of curiosity and sweetness that Thancred isn’t used to seeing from the young woman who always has a scowl or disinterested look on her face. The small beast man keeps talking her ear off, of all the things it knows and wants to know about the city, but never once does Yuria complain. 

She smiles at something the creature says before it twirls around in its merry way. The smile on her face doesn’t leave her for quite some time, as she talks to the other Scions and Thancred just stands there -- quiet and letting the warmth he had gotten used to fill his core before leaving the Waking Sands once more. 

* * *

After a string of missions around the remnants of the Ala Mhigo resistance that take her all over the three city-states, Y’uria more than a bit surprised to be called back to Ul’dah since there still isn’t much on Lahabrea. However, the situation doesn’t seem to be about that at all, as Minfilla starts talking about beastmen around Limsa Lominsa.

“A tribe of kobolds near the vicinity of Limsa Lominsa have reawakened Titan,” Minfilla states and the whole room falls into a dreaded silence. However, Y’uria’s interest is already piqued as the thought of facing another Primal with all her new teachings and strategies gets to her head. 

Blue meets blue as both Minfilla and Y’shtola go on about the utter devastation tha that had happened a few years back, as Y’uria was quick to follow along though she understood by now how scary fighting against such a beast could be -- the scar on her back was proof of that. 

“The Echo will not help you this time, I fear. If you are to survive, your steel must speak for you,” Y’shtola warns the older miqo'te, “No one will think of you a coward were you to decline.” 

For a second, Y’uria feels something akin to fear run down her spine, but is only vaguely aware that it isn’t hers. 

Though Y’uria doesn’t understand why all the Scions have the need to warn her like she should be afraid and run away. It wasn’t something that she was going to do, it wasn’t the way that she had been raised sadly.

She simply shakes her head three times to Minfilla’s questions, as the hyur ends up giving her a grateful smile. 

“We can’t very well send her to Limsa Lominsa without Y’shtola?” a familiar voice breaks the agreement as they turn to look at Thancred. Y’uria wants to say something, but decides against it instead. 

Instead the meeting swiftly ends, as Y’uria turns to leave before nodding at the rest of the Scions, though a little bit more unsure when she meets Thancred’s eyes. 

However, someone is quick to pick up on things here and there, as Y’shtola glances at Thancred in question before turning and leaving the Solar, Yuria following close behind. 

Nothing else is said as she leaves for the ocean city. 


	9. Chapter 9

Like with New Gridania, Y’uria had already gone to Limsa Lominsa as an envoy to Ul’dah, but all she really did was hand in the letter and return to the desert. As she took more time with missions and exploration, she found herself enjoying the smells and sounds of the city-state. 

Y’uria often found herself pausing to look at the sparkling ocean below and all around her. Now, this was a sight that she was completely unused to. The oceanaire burned her lungs when she took a deep breath in, but it was truly a marvelous sight. 

If only the people had been the same way as well. 

The Company of Heroes isn’t what her or Y’shtola thought it was going to be, though they are quickly wrong once more when they head down to Costa del Sol. However, Yuria had learned to take all this with a grain of salt because if anything, she had learned to be more patient since becoming an adventurer. 

“A thousand pardons for this extreme discourtesy!” The lalafell that had made her go on most of the missions, for technically her own celebration dinner, grovelled as Y’uria tried her hardest not to roll her eyes. He hadn’t said that an hour ago, but she was too tired to fight. 

“It is all right,” is all she can manage to say before the rest of the Company of Heroes show up. They each gave her words of encouragement and a much needed explanation, but she was already eyeing the food that she had helped bring to fruition, as her knees knocked together. 

“It seems you are about to fall asleep on your feet,” Y’shtola remarks from behind, as Y’uria turns to look at the sitting miqo'te, “And I do not envy you for it.”

Y’uria can’t help but let out a weak laugh at the remark before going down the wooden walkways to finally enjoy a great feast before facing Titan. 

* * *

Titan has its own level of annoyance that that Y’uria on her toes the entire time, what with moving rocks and slides that someone that needs to stand completely still has to keep on watch for. However, her group this time around had been kind enough to watch her back, though they laughed at her antics once everything was said and done. 

It was a small price to pay to be left standing there they had left compared to when she had fought Ifrit. The same light had shined on her once more and another Primal had been slayed. 

> _...Fool. _

However, even with all the early celebrations, Y’uria couldn’t help but feel something dark and cold settle in the center of her core. 

* * *

Lahabrea is quick to notice that there is something unique to this body compared to the others that he had inhabited in these long centuries. Deep in this subconscious, there is a cord, something small and in the back of the mercenary’s mind that tends to pull from time to time. It isn’t much, but it is always enough to grab his attention due to the sheer warmth that comes with it.

It is not his own emotions nor is it those of the former host that has vanished somewhere. It is another person in the corner of this mind, and as much as it has been pushed back -- the tug is always there to bring itself forward once more, like they won’t be forgotten. 

Bright, warm anger and jubilation that moves from side to side makes Lahabrea pause from time to time, until one day -- it stops him completely. 

Utter coldness and fear radiate in a sudden moment that causes Lahabrea to groan and almost pass out in this body. His host’s name rings loudly in a voice that isn’t his own, but he knows this voice. He has heard it once or twice before. 

> _ Thancred. _

The panic is eventually replaced with a cold smolder of guilt, pity, and a swirl of other emotions that Lahabrea has to get used to. But, now he knows what this is and in all his centuries alive, he couldn’t believe he had found one of the parodies of this realm to be utterly true. 

* * *

However, there is something bad that always follows the good. It was something that Y’uria had learned early on in life, because while Titan had been felled but the Waking Sands headquarters was an utter mess -- bodies on top of each other and blood slowly seeping out. Y’uria freezes at the sight because even though she was used to fighting and her own injuries, she was still a child when it came to the injuries and death of others. 

To the death of those who were close to her, as people she knew were just laying there and no longer smiling to greet her. She tried her hardest not to cry, to not pull back and throw up at the smell of blood and burning flesh. 

She runs around in a haze, looking for survivors, until she hears a familiar voice in Minfilia’s office. They are hardly breathing, as the miqo'te leans over the sylph’s body. 

“This one is glad...walking one is safe…” 

The Echo burns its memories into Y’uria as she sees everything that had happened to the rest of the Scions. How both Minfilla and Papalymo were taken away. How Noroxia stepped in for Minfilla and how…

> _ We have come here for the one that slayed Ifrit and Titan! _

How this one Garlean soldier had killed everyone without so much as a second thought or remorse because they had been looking for her.  **How they had all died because of her.** Y’uria shakes as her vision begins to blur, as she slowly makes it to Noroxia. 

“Forgive this...one…”

Y’uria doesn’t stop crying for a very long time afterwards. 


	10. Chapter 10

It is only until much later and when the wounds don’t hurt as much that Y’uria will admit that she was in a haze when she was formerly introduced to Alphinaud. The church, meeting the amnesic Cid, hunting down all the necessary materials and even some things that the young elezen had said here and there were in a miasma that Y’uria shut away to protect herself because she had never witnessed such an event before.

However once the bodies had been moved away from the office, Noroxia’s body had been taken back to her tribe, and the three of them were slowly moving into the winter that covered Camp Dragonhead, it was only then that Y’uria began to recover. She pushed herself into missions and stopping whatever strange fanaticism had taken hold of the higher levels of elezen society within Camp Dragonhead. 

“Even if nations and the Grand Companies are mourning us -- we still have to do our duty.” 

Neither of them were sure about what had happened to the Scions that hadn’t been in the Waking Sands during the time of the attack, but there was never time to question and mourn. Y’uria was slowly starting to realize that you could only live in the day, in the moment, for the people that hadn’t made it past yesterday. 

Thus, she traded her regular robes for silkier ones, her rod for a sword and crystal and she tried her hardest to stop thinking of those that had been lost because of her in such a sad light. She remembers the little sylph’s words from back near Gridania when she had returned Noroxia’s body. 

As one of the last few Scions still living and counted for, Y’uria had to play the part and try her hardest to beat Garuda and all that lay before her. Revenge was a good enough reason to keep on living. 

* * *

Lahabrea feels it a second time when he meets the Bringer of Light in the snowy mountaintops. The feeling is colder and heavier than before, as a pinprick of air leaves his host’s body faster than it should, and if he looks closely enough she almost winces for a moment. But, nothing more to make her pick up on what is really going on. Instead blue eyes just narrow at the sight of him and he can’t help but enjoy the attention for a moment -- another new development. 

“...So you mean to slay Garuda?” he questions, but receives no answer, “Most interesting.” 

He disappears and reappears right in front of her, but the miqo'te is already pulling out her sword and taking two steps back. It almost makes Lahabrea laugh at the quick flutter of confusion he feels, but he says nothing on the matter choosing to keep goading her instead. 

“And you are aware that her strength greatly exceeds that of your previous Primal conquests? A testament to the fanatical devotion of her followers. The Ixal are nothing but zealous.” 

She frowns but does nothing more, as he keeps talking, “In spite of your best achievement, I labor to believe you will beat this foe. Yet, only a fool would underestimate the great Bringer of Light, the slayer of Ifrit, the bane of Titan…” 

Somewhere deep inside, Lahabrea can’t help but tease her, to push her so that she may prove her worth. So, he raises the dragon to see how well she can do, how she can survive -- if at all. He wants to strike her down and ruin her, but there is something else deep down that hopes for her survival.

Once Lahabrea feels the dragon has been destroyed, he can’t help but feel annoyance towards the strong fluttering trapped in the darker parts of his host’s body.

* * *

Y’uria should really be used to what the Echo can do by now, but each time it still surprises her. Besides sharing memories, it can apparently heal amnesia as well as Cid’s blue eyes meet hers. He’s dumbstruck for a moment, as he regains the memories of his past back in Garlean and what he had done up to the Calamity. 

“That light -- it was you, wasn’t it?” Cid lets out an unsteady breath, as Y’uria can only nod. 

She isn’t sure how all that she saw just came to be, but with everything that had happened since she had joined the Scions, since she had reached Ul’dah, just made her understand that there were a lot of things she would never really understand.

* * *

The fight with Garuda is the easiest thus far, even though there are beastmen but Cid and Alphinaud are there to have her back. It might also help that she is getting used to the company that she meets from time to time, as eccentric as they might seem. However, the calm after the battle only lasted for a moment.

> _ Their gifts sustain me. Their faith empowers me.  _

Garuda is glowing a bright green as it screams in defiance. A cold shiver runs down Y’uria’s spine at the sight of it, that this was going to be the end when there was still so much to do. Garuda laughs in the vain attempt both Alphanud and Cid go through to stop the Ixal from praying, as all she can do is stand there and wait. Though it would only make sense that she would fall like this, trying to slay a primal. 

“You, landwalker -- you who dared to raise your hand against me-- you shall be the first to pay for your sins! Not with your death,  _ but with YOUR LIFE!”  _

The primal directs their strong winds at Y’uria, but like with Ifrit nothing happens as the miqo'te keeps still though her mind and heart are running several ilms per hour. She lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in before looking at the distressed primal before her. In an instant, the scene goes from horror to something even worse as the trio meets the machine known as Ultima and the Black Wolf. 

However, even after they barely manage to escape, there are other things swirling for attention in Y’uria’s mind. Like how she doesn’t feel anything after her strong emotional response and she doesn’t know what to think in regards to what that could mean. 


	11. Chapter 11

Between running for their lives and coming to understand what exactly they are going up against, there is something that Alphinaud can’t help but notice -- utter silence. It wasn’t like Y’uria was the most talkative of people, but she was attentive. She listened to everything that needed to be said and it was only then that she talked to clear up the air about anything that confused her. But, as he and Cid discussed at length about the Black Wolf, Y’uria was glancing at the night sky as if lost in thought. 

It didn’t seem like her usual self and that worried him just a bit. 

“Are you alright?” Alphinaud can’t help but voice his concerns, as blue eyes meet his. However, for a moment, they are hazy and lost before they sharpen back into focus once more, as if the miqo'te is pushing away whatever she doesn’t want him to see. 

“I’m...all right,” she mumbles with a shake of her head, “I just get headaches from time to time.” 

Alphinaud frowns as a million questions pop into his head as to why she might be having headaches and why at this moment. However, the miqo'te had already gone back to leaning on the railing of the  _ Enterprise _ , as if trying to move forward with whatever pain she might be feeling. 

* * *

The Waking Sands isn’t sticky or smelling of blood when they come back to, but it is dark and damp, so unlike how she is used to seeing it when she used to make her way back from all her missions. Cid tells them to stop and wait, but all Y’uria wants to do is leave the place that reminds her of nothing but helplessness and failure. 

She almost screams when they see Yda standing in the center of the Solar. The sticky fear is replaced by something calmer at the sight of her fellow Scions, but it doesn’t calm down when she realizes that it’s _only_ Yda and Y’shtola. She stays silent though since Yda was more open about her emotions than she was. 

“I don’t believe it...I was sure you’d been--” Yda is close to crying, but quickly picks herself up as the three of them gather around her. 

She goes on about what she had found out what had happened after the church, though mostly Y’uria, had taken the bodies, though she and the white-haired miqo'te had cleaned up the building. At the cracking of her voice, Y’uria was in that memory --Noroxia’s memory-- once more. It doesn’t help that there isn’t any response back to the fear and she’s all alone in this again. 

_“--The Echo,_ ” Alphinaud’s voice breaks her stupor, as she looks at the elezen. Y’uria can’t help but let out a tired sigh at his explanation as to why Gaius would want those types of powers, not caring who he had to go through in order to get them. 

The plan slowly comes together after Y’shtola had comes backs and hey had gotten some rest. And while their is a semblance to their core once more, as she goes on with her sleepless night, Y’uria can’t help but wonder where he is. 

Surely, they all believed that he could handle whatever was thrown at him --Thancred was just like that after all. Though, she can’t help but concentrate on how there are missing pieces all over and she can't do anything about it. She can only stay silence as her suspicions grow and creep into the night. 

She tries not to cry when she feels the dreaded nothingness that answers back at her. 

* * *

_ Pulse.  _

It caused Lahabrea to stop for a moment and look around the area.

_ Pulse. _

Another faster jolt causes him to stop completely, as he sees something in the darkness. A red line threading his current body to another’s --one he cannot see-- before it disappears completely.

The light fades and he is left thinking of the stories he heard of Hydaelyn, only left to wonder if he could experiment with this as well. 


	12. Chapter 12

_ Pulse.  _

_ Pulse.  _

In the upcoming days, Y’uria can’t help but feel that there is something weighing her down more than usual. Between everything that needs to be done for the upcoming rescue plan, she is sleeping less and the guilt and everything that has happened pushes her to eat a little less each day. She doesn’t know what to do and she doubts the other Scions notice with everything else that needs to be done. 

Thus, she tries her hardest to find sleep and a good meal whenever she can. However, those are few and far between when all she can really thinking about is:

> _ In the middle of the darkness, there lay a pile of bodies. She doesn’t see their faces, but she can tell who each of them is, how long she knew them for, and what they used to talk about back in the Waking Sands. They can no longer speak, but she hears their voices ringing clearly in her eardrums, especially a soft voice that echoes the loudest.  _
> 
> _ “This one...This one--” _
> 
> _ The pile of dead bodies doesn’t disappear until Y’uria starts crying, her voice clogged and full of all the things she could not say or do to stop them. As they fade away, the darkness takes over until only a pair of brown eyes is looking at her.  _
> 
> _ His voice is gargled over and it sounds so much older than he really is, but she knows who it is and his voice has the same desired effect anyways. _
> 
> _ “We are all dead because of you.” _

Y’uria is barely able to stop herself from screaming as she wakes up. She pushes her head deeper into her pillow and stays like that until the tears have dried out and her throat is sore from apologies she keeps mumbling out.

* * *

An Imperial stronghold at the center of Mor Dhona -- Castrum Centri. 

Between destroying machines, learning how to ride some magitek vehicle, and learning to salute in the Imperial way, there isn’t much out of the ordinary of all the other fetch-and-go missions that Y’uria has done in the past year. However, it is different...because she is trying to save the people that she cares about, because it’s just one other thing that she doesn’t want to fail at once more. 

It was funny how much could change in such a short amount of time, but there were also other reasons that she wanted -- no, needed to head into Castrum Centri. She knows that someone else is going to be there --she can feel it in her bones-- though she doesn’t give those darker thoughts in the back of her mind so much time. She isn’t going to give into them until it is the right time. 

She would wait to meet the person in the bright white armor. 

However, all those thoughts, emotions, and even celebration that might have run through her bones at the thought of having back together again and dealing a blow to the Garlean Empire disappear with the sight in front of her. 

Her insides churn, as the headache and nausea that she hadn’t felt since leaving for Limsa Lominsa come hurling all back at once. This time freezing her in place and trying to drain her of the essence of something else. All noise around her becomes static, but Y’uria can still hear Minfilla’s voice in the distance. 

> _ “Thancred! He was Lahabrea? No..No, this cannot be!”  _

Y’uria wants to pretend this isn’t real at all, perchance just a bad dream but her darkening vision says otherwise. Her confusion and sorrow only double at the sound of laughter in her back of her head and trying to hang on to the airship for dear life. 

* * *

“But as long as we stand together….there will always be hope.” 

The following reunion of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the meeting with the heads of the Eorzea Alliance is all a jumbled mess with Y’uria feeling a nausea she hadn’t felt in quite some time. It was like the first time she had entered Ul’dah and felt the  _ could have been  _ that was in the air nor was it like the first time she had actually seen Thancred -- because there was simply no warmth here. 

There are so many possibilities, theories, and general worry over Thancred that nothing else seems to take its place, but the remaining Scions don’t know her well enough to realize that her silence is a stand-in for something else. However, there is not much time to mourn or question things as the assault plans move forward within the Eorzean Alliance. She just stands in the back and tries not to pass out right then and there. 

It isn’t until they return to the Waking Sands that she is able to hide in a dark corner, that doesn’t remind her of stained blood, where she is able to let it all out for a moment. She takes a deep breath and the tiny sobs finally break loose. 

She stays like that until her name is called once more and she pulls herself together for the sake of the mission. However, not everything is as it seems when Minfilla calls her into the Solar and the younger woman gives a pitiful stare. 

“Thancred's life weighs heavily on my mind,” she starts off as their eyes meet, “I cannot bear to think in the thrall of that Ascian.. _.I believe you have the same worry as well _ .”

Y’uria frowns but says nothing as Minfilla keeps talking, though she can’t help but wonder how much the hyur can see using the power of the Echo compared to a novice like her. She speaks of Ascians and all the horrors they can do to their hosts and by the end of it, Y’uria knows what has to be done. 

Minfilla pulls out the Crystal of Darkness and for a brief moment it shimmers, as the blond continues to speak: “Even for an Archon, Thancred's talents are exceptional. We all had complete confidence in him. It was for this reason that none of us foresaw the danger in sending him to investigate the Ascians alone.” 

Y’uria frowns even deeper at the memory and feelings she had felt before -- tiredness, starvation, sleep deprivation all in the name of the greater good. She knows those feelings all too well now. Though with Thancred, she had tried help in her own ways, but never fully understanding Thancred when he just pushed her away just made things even harder. But, she could see now that he was dedicated to a cause, even if it cost him everything -- what a sentimental fool. 

“Thancred has been striving to fill the void left by Loiousiox. Yet it was plain that he was overtaxing himself.” Papalymo adds, as Y’uria turned to look at him -- taking in everything she could about the situation and the man. 

“Yeah,” Yda follows soon afterwards, “He would volunteer for everything and work till he was dizzy.” 

“And the toll taken by his exertions made him vulnerable to Ascian influence,” Alphinaud sighs out, pointing out the mistake on their part like only he can. Y’uria just heaves out a weary sigh from the near exhaustion over everything that Thancred has done for the Scions. 

Minfilla ends up handing her the fake crystal and goes on to explain how the Crystal of Darkness should be destroyed to free Thancred, though that seems easier said than done. 

“You have proven to be the stoutest of allies, standing with us through thick and thin,” she goes on to say, as blue meets blue and in the moment, Y'uria can tell that Minfilla might know something about her tether to the missing man, “Yet the most perilous struggle is still yet to come. For the sake of the realm -- **a** **nd Thancred** \-- I ask that you lend us your strength once more.” 

All Y’uria can do is nod, as she ends up taking the title of “Warrior of Light” in order to protect and save everything that she holds precious now and in the future. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at the of ARR, thanks for sticking with me!

Y’uria can’t help but wonder if she is a bad person for not thinking of the good of the realm, instead she is thinking about friends that were too excited to see the outside world and white-haired workaholics. 

She wonders if Hydaelyn would be mad at her over such selfish thoughts, but as they get closer and closer to their target destination. Y’uria can’t help but think it might be better to have familiar faces to guide her fight than unfamiliar masses she might never meet. 

As she heads out once more, Y’uria hopes that the Mother Crystal will forgive her one day.

* * *

The thing about such missions, such as Operation Archon is that you can forget yourself in dizzying adrenaline and struggle in between life and death. Between fighting Rhitahtyn sas Arvina at Cape Westwind to invading and destroying parts of Castrum Meridianum, everything is a blur until she is standing in front of a familiar white armor in front of her. 

The black mage can only listen as the Garlean soldier goes on with her tirade: 

“If you are allowed to continue, you will eventually deprive me of all that I have toiled for -- all that is mine by right! Well, you cannot have him! His dreams and ambitions, his body and soul -- they are mine, do you heat me? All mine!” 

Y’uria clenches her fists together and remembers everything that she had lost because of this woman -- everything turns red. 

“I will kill you, adventurer! Only your death will bring me peace!”

Y’uria cannot help but echo the same sentiment and as she begins to weave her magic...she hopes deep down that Hydalyn can forgive her for being so selfish and ruthless when it comes to this moment.

* * *

_ Pulse.  _

All the talk and flair that Nero and Gaius talk through mean nothing compared to staring at the face from up above. She is aware of the Calamity and everything that the Garlean Empire had done over the years, though she hadn’t experienced it first hand until a few years ago when she began traveling. However, since becoming a Scion, it had become personal -- her friends were getting her and the places she knew were in danger. 

A distant threat to her life became all too real and it was starting her right in the face. 

“--Needles to say, you and your Scions accomplices can not be suffered to interfere in this endeavor.”

And as much as her legs hurt from running and her bones were aching from dodging fire and casting as best as she could, Y’uria was going to do her best. Regardless of the migraine building behind her eyes and the nausea she felt at the sound of a voice that wasn’t his own. 

_ Pulse.  _

“You will not leave this place alive. It was pastime that your light was extuinigh,  _ Bringer of Light _ .”

Y’uria can only ready her weapon once more and fight once more to save the world around her. Though she hopes that deep down it is all right for her to fight more of her friends and the people that believed in her so much above all else. 

For now, she’ll fight with all her might to free Thancred and bring him back to the Scions -- a place that was starting to feel like home. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, it has been quite some time but i took a deep dive after somethings happened in may. i am slowly going to try to pick this up and my other ffxiv stories now that i am caught up and everything.
> 
> i have also made a ffxiv based twitter, if anyone wants to follow me there: @yurialdia.
> 
> thank you very much and enjoy this small catch-up chapter.

Thancred finally wakes up on the second day after Operation Archon. He is dizzy and his senses come back though the pain that echoes throughout his body. However, he pushes past that as he slowly realizes that he had been sleeping in the middle of an open tent and that he isn’t the only one.

“What happened?” he murmurs to himself, as brown eyes look over to the bed on his right side. 

One the bed a familiar puff of pink hair can be seen through the sheets, though unlike him who was dressed in all white, Yuria’s red jacket and hat were placed on the bedpost. Thancred tried to remember what had happened, but he was left in a haziness of lapsed time between now and the last time he had actually seen her. He couldn’t help but frown when he couldn’t exactly feel anything coming from her end. It seemed like she was enjoying a deep sleep, as she shuffled and moved her body to the side farthest away from him.

It almost made Thancred smile. 

“She collapsed as soon as she brought you back,” a soft voice remarks, as Thancred turns to see Minfilla at the entrance of the tent, “Fought to bring down Gaius van Baelar’s plans and the Ascian that had taken over your body.” 

“Is that what happened?” Thancred remarks, unsure of what to say about his own weakness and where to even start when it came to the sleeping miqo'te in the room. 

However, he cannot help but let out a sigh of relief when he feels a flutter in the center of his chest, low but hopeful -- and that seems to answer some of his questions for the moment. He turns to look at Minfilia before asking if she can explain everything that had happened while he was out of commission. 

Yuria ends up waking up in the early morning hours of the fourth day and is dubbed the new Warrior of Light by mid-afternoon. 

* * *

Y’uria wakes up in the early morning hours, when the sky is still dark against the backdrop of the tent, feeling between refreshed and emotionally drained. Her dreams had been nothing but sweet darkness, but she didn’t know what awaited her now that Lahabrea and Gaius had been defeated. 

_What was going to happen now? What of Eorzea? Was Thancred all right now?_

All these questions plagued her in the middle of the dark tent, but as she sat there and the sun slowly came up. The camp began to make the noises that she was all too familiar with. Things being moved around, people yelling and greeting each other, and the shuffle of daily life made her close her eyes. 

So many people were alive to see another day and that was the best outcome of it all. Though there was still a heavy loss in her heart over those she couldn’t have saved, she could only hope they had found some peace now.

“Ah,” a voice from the entrance of the tent grabs her attention, as Y’uria looks up to see Minfilla with a smile on her face, “You are awake! How are you faring this morning?”

Y’uria pauses for a moment because she isn’t used to such a question. The Scions had been running her from one mission to another that there wasn’t much time to think of how she thought or felt about things. However, even before that Y’uria was simply used to living on a day to day basis. The perspective of having another day to live with and the promise of a celebration for everything she had done was completely new to her.

“I am fine,” is all she manages to say with a steady nod. 

Minfilla takes a seat next to her, as blue eyes turn to notice the empty bed next to her. Y’uria tries to be subtle, but the blond catches it quickly enough.

“Thancred awoke a couple of days ago,” the leader of the Scions explains, as Y’uria looks at her, “He has been walking around the encampment since the---” 

“That is good to hear,” is all Y’uria manages to say, breaking up what Minfilla was saying as she sits up. The two women sit in silence for a moment before Y’uria asks her array of questions of what had happened while she was sleeping and Minfilla debriefs her on everything. 

Thancred isn’t brought up again, but Minfilla cannot help but notice that he moved quickly in turning to return back to the work that needed to be done. 

_Both were workaholics in the worst way,_ she noted.

* * *

A week between restoration, celebrations and moving about passes the Scions before they all return to the Wakings Sands once more. Between Thancred’s recovery and Yuria’s need to be everywhere and personal training, there is not much time for them to think, much less sit and talk about the occasional flutter or headache that seems to come and pass when they are in the same area. 

The effect doubled even more when they were both standing in Minfilla’s office after everything had settled down. Brown eyes meet blue and Thancred cannot help but offer the miqo'te an honest to Twelve smile at the sight of her curious gaze. 

“I owe you my life, Yuria. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” 

It is honesty from a man that had lived his whole life in lies and secrecy, but at the sight of her small smile he almost welcomes the breathlessness that comes with it. 

  
  



End file.
